TECH: SMARTPHONE: 5 reasons for it to be your next cell phone

Picking a cell phone can be challenging but a smartphone has an amazing array of capability. Pickin isn’t easy and it seems like Canadians have picked their side: 67% of Canadian households have a smartphone, and 20% of Canadian households do not have a landline and use cell phones only. Food for thought, isn’t it?

Here are some key points to consider when you start thinking about your next mobile device

Stay in touch

Make phone calls! What would you do most with your own cell phone? Of course, communicating will always be the main purpose to have a smartphone.

Smartphones are smart because they allow you to communicate in many ways with those in your life. Younger people have already adopted new technology, smartphones included, but they don’t spend that much time on phone calls. They prefer to text you, or send you a picture depicting what they are up to, or share their “status” with you.

When distance separates people, a good alternative is to try messaging apps like Viber, Whatsapp or Skype. These apps work with the Internet (on Wi-fi or mobile data) and allow you to send text or pictures or carry on a conversation while displaying the live images of the communicators.

‘Apps’ mean you can do much more

One of the great advantages of smartphones is their apps. Apps are similar to software on a computer, and thanks to the App Store that comes pre-installed on smartphones, you can go shopping in the App Store and download apps for almost any purpose, and many highly rated apps are free.

Whether you are looking for cooking recipes, a diet and health tracker or a virtual mall to shop from the comfort of your home, you will find a related app on the App Store As they say, “there’s an app for that!”

Usability

Smartphone screens are usually 2 to 3 times bigger than flip phones. Screens become touch displays, which means you don’t have to search for the buttons to press anymore – everything is on the screen! Physical keyboards aren’t very popular anymore, being slowly replaced by digital ones that automatically appear on the screen whenever you need to enter text or numbers and the days of tap, tap, tap, are gone as you can ‘swipe’ text very easily. Plus, you can adapt the font size to your convenience or adjust the screen brightness to make it readable by day or night.

Also, some smartphones have an Easy Mode app available, perfect for first time smartphone users.

Stay informed

There’s so much happening here and abroad with newspaper or radio apps, digital magazines, or video streaming apps like YouTube. You will be able to stay informed of what is happening locally and internationally if you subscribe to the right channel or feeds. Facebook and Twitter can also deliver great content right into your newsfeed or inbox

Stay up-to-date

Technology is evolving quickly and so it can rapidly become overwhelming. Touchscreen is a trend that is only at its beginning, but many other things are changing. As you know, rotary phones have gone the way of the dodo. They don’t even look close to a cell phone, but the biggest changes aren’t hardware changes, but software changes. You can’t even imagine all you can do with these devices; this is like giving you the key to a whole new world. Exciting, isn’t it?

And, one more thing: do not worry! There is no pressure for you to get a smartphone. Flip phones are still available. There is a wide variety of phones out there, for all levels of usage and all kinds of users. Find out what kind of phone you need, and why picking a cell phone can be as easy as 1, 2, 3.